Full-service Pump Mandate?

From CSP Daily News: Delaware Democratic Congressional Candidate Scott R. Spencer has proposed a jobs initiative to create more than 300,000 jobs this year by restoring full service pumps at gas stations nationwide. Spencer will ask Dover state lawmakers to require full service by July 1 in Delaware and Congress to require full service nationwide by October 1.

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Do believe cost was the reason this type of job (and business') went away in the seventies. Again, shows how much our goverment is out of touch with what is happening at street level in America for "employeed" consumers and business owners. Although, if he agree's the jobs only go towards employing people from our welfare rolls, I might reconsider my current thoughts on the proposal. Let's all get out there and freeze/sweat our butts off "working" and we will all be better off for it.

Mark...there's a fool in there...but I don't think it's a joke. With new guys like this running for office it's no wonder the incumbents keep getting elected. He misses a couple of important facts...The big oil companies own and operate almost none of the gas stations AND How much would it cost consumers for this service, especially if these jobs paid a living wage that could support a family. I dealt with station operators in New Jersey for years and was repeatedly told that other than the oil company operated sites, there were NO legally run stations in the state. Maybe that was an exaggeration, but I'm sure that is a message about full service.

This is one of those seemingly commonsensical ideas that sounds really good...until you begin picking it apart. Who is against creating jobs? But, yeah, where does the money come from to pay for them, especially long term? It would be passed on to the consumer, of course. I also think self-service gas is so deeply ingrained in consumers now that it would actually be hard to go back. Nostalgia makes me think kindly of this notion, too (ah, the good old days of the "service station"!), but it's just not practical these days except for helping seniors and the disabled.

This week I blogged about the danger of increased government intervention in private business. My question was; does asking for government regulation of interchange fees signal greater merchant acceptance of government intervention in their business. It appears Mr. Spencer thinks so and now wants to use that same power to provide low wage jobs at the convenience store.

Amazingly Mr. Spencer misses the point. If consumer’s desired “full service” it is likely that convenience stores would have already introduced the service, perhaps charging a service fee. Candidly, I’d pay $5 to have my tires & oil checked and the windshield cleaned. I agree with JC when she says that this shows “how much our government is out of touch”. I think Ralphs point is well taken but somewhat off point when he says that “these jobs paid a living wage that could support a family” These jobs are entry level, or part time positions. These are the types of jobs high school students can perform.

If legislators would focus on removing government intervention, rather than increasing then the market would correct it. In the case of self service look at how rising minimum wage law has made these jobs uneconomical.

I went back and read the press release. They did mention about these being entry level/part time positions. Guess my point is...Does the creation of this level of job merit government intervention? Will this really lead us out of the unemployment problem?

A Michigan House committee is looking into a measure that would force gasoline stations to have at least one full-service pump.

LANSING, Mich. – A Michigan lawmaker has decided that every gasoline station in the state should have at least one full-service pump, WSBT-TV reports.

Late last month, Rep. Bert Johnson sponsored a measure that would force gasoline stations to set aside one pump as full service. House Bill No. 5996 would require retailers to charge self-service prices for disabled drivers and anyone older than 65 who uses full service.

“This legislation raises several operational and security concerns that could lead to higher fuel prices and, in extreme cases, put employees in unsafe circumstances or cause the closure of stations who could not meet this unfunded mandate,” said Mark Griffin of the Michigan Petroleum Association and the Michigan Association of Convenience Stores.

Retailer Pete Adams, owner of the Southside Service Station in Niles, expressed his concerns about the proposal, too. “I don’t think [switching to full-service] will ever work,” he said, adding that it would be difficult to have one pump full service.

Griffin told NACS Daily that the association has “worked closely with disabled groups to create a Web site that locates stations providing full service for the disabled and the elderly at thepumpguide.com.”

More than 800 stations have voluntarily submitted their names for the site. Griffin noted that “more than 100 are located in Johnson’s home county. As such, we question the necessity of this legislation.”

Currently, the bill is before a House committee.

New Jersey and Oregon are the only states that require full-service operations – New Jersey’s law was enacted in 1949; Oregon’s in 1951. Because of the challenges related to providing full-serve operations, both states are in the bottom five nationwide based on percentage of convenience stores offering fueling. (44 percent of conveniences stores in New Jersey offer fueling, while 62 percent of convenience stores in Oregon do. The national average is 79 percent.)